The invention relates to a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets from a sheet-processing machine, such as a printing machine.
In sheet-processing machines, especially printing machines, the sheets which may be provided for further processing are deposited at a stacking or pile station to form a stack or pile.
When starting up such a machine, whether when setting up a new printed image, or when starting up in the context of a new operating shift, sheets are printed which do not yet have desired quality and to this extent are faulty and are referred to as reject sheets or waste. These must not be deposited in the pile provided for further processing, but must be removed.
In addition, during the operation of the machine, proof sheets have to be taken regularly, first for continuously checking the quality of the printed image and second for documenting the quality of the print within the context of the standards relating to the operating sequence, such as the ISO 9000 Standard.
For this purpose, it has been known heretofore to delay the release of the sheets conveyed by a chain conveyor and held by grippers, beyond the normal depositing position of the sheets in a stack or pile provided for further processing by later opening of the grippers.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets from a sheet-processing machine, which affords user-friendly depositing of removed sheets.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets from a side of a delivery of a sheet-processing machine, comprising a collecting container for accommodating removed sheets therein in an operating position of the container, the container being displaceable into a park position wherein it is located above the delivery.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the collecting container, when in the park position thereof, is at least approximately flush with the side of the delivery.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes at least one sliding block carrying the collecting container, and two mutually perpendicularly aligned guides for the sliding block.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes dovetail tongues and grooves for guiding the sliding block in the mutually perpendicularly aligned guides.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, each of the guides has a stationary guide rail and a slide displaceable over a limited path on the guide rail.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the slides, respectively, on a side thereof facing away from the respective guide rail are formed with respective dovetail tongues respectively engaging in a dovetail groove formed in the sliding block.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes bearings by which the slides are guidable in the respective guide rails thereof.
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the bearings are formed as linear ball bearings, respectively, having a ball cage and balls engaging in partial cylindrical grooves, respectively, formed in the guide rails and the slides.
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes a respective motor for displacing the slides along the guide rails, respectively.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes a threaded spindle for displacing the slides, respectively.
In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes limit switches arranged in a transfer region for transferring the sliding block from one of the guides to the other, and motors switchable by the limit switches for adjusting the slides.
In accordance with still an added feature of the invention, when the collecting container is in an operating position thereof for accepting the sheets, a guide is assigned to the collecting container for deflecting the sheets into the collecting container after they have been removed from the delivery.
In accordance with still an additional feature of the invention, the sheet-removing device includes suction belts for conveying the sheets, the suction belts being arranged upline of the collecting chamber, when the collecting chamber is in an operating position thereof for accepting the sheets.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the sheets are removable from a front or end side of the delivery.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the two guides are a vertical guide and a horizontal guide.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the guides are a vertical guide and a horizontal guide, respectively, and the slides are a vertical slide and a horizontal slide, respectively.
In accordance with a concomitant aspect of the invention, there is provided a sheet-processing machine, in particular, a printing machine, including a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets from a side of a delivery of a sheet-processing machine, comprising a collecting container for accommodating removed sheets therein in an operating position of the container, the container being displaceable into a park position wherein it is located above the delivery.
With the invention of the instant application, the depositing of removed sheets is user-friendly in that, during continuous pile formation, the collecting container can be left in the park position thereof, and does not hamper access to the delivery. In a preferred development, the collecting container, when in the park position thereof, is at least quite flush with the front or end side of the delivery.
An advantageous configuration provides a slotted-guide or sliding block which is connected to the collecting container, and two guides for the slotted-guide or sliding block, which are arranged perpendicularly to one another.
In a preferred configuration, provision is made for the slotted-guide or sliding block to be guided in the guides by dovetail tongues and grooves. This configuration insures a reliable holding and therefore the possibility of displacing the collecting container carried by the slotted-guide or sliding block or blocks along the guides.
A further preferred configuration provides for each guide to have a stationary guide rail and a slide displaceable over a limited path on the guide rail, the slides, on the side thereof facing away from the guide rail, being formed in particular with dovetail tongues, and therewith, respectively, engaging in a dovetail groove in the slotted guide block.
In a further configuration, provision is made for the slides to be guided in the respective guide rail thereof by bearings, the bearings additionally being formed as linear ball bearings with a ball cage and balls, which engage in partial cylindrical grooves formed in the guide rail and the slide. In this regard, an improvement provides for the slides, respectively, to be capable of being displaceable along the guide rails by a motor, it being possible in particular for the slides to be displaceable by a threaded spindle.
A further configuration is distinguished by the fact that, in a transfer region for transferring the slotted-guide or sliding block from one guide to the other guide, limit switches are arranged which, respectively, in order to switch one of the motors, are linked to the latter. Thereby, a fully automatic sequence or course of the displacement of the collecting container can be effected, in that the slide which is initially disengaged from the slotted-guide or sliding block located in the transfer position thereof, is automatically moved into engagement with the slotted guide block after the actuation of an associated first limit switch and, when that slide reaches its own limit position insuring engagement, by actuating a second limit switch, effects the return of the other slide in order to release the slotted-guide or sliding block from this other slide.
In a further configuration, the invention provides that, when the collecting container is in the operating position thereof for accepting the sheets, it has assigned thereto a guide which introduces the removed sheets into the collecting container. The effect thereof is that a proof or reject sheet led over the sheet pile is transferred reliably into the collecting container. In order to assist in the transfer operation, provision is further made for suction belts to be arranged upline of the collecting container located in the operating position, in order to accept sheets to be removed from chain conveyors of the sheet-processing machine, which convey the sheets.
Furthermore, a subject of the invention is a sheet-processing machine, such as a printing machine, in particular, having a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets, and a collecting container which accommodates removed sheets in an operating position and is displaceable into a park position, wherein it is located above the delivery, the sheet-removing device preferably having at least one of the features mentioned hereinbefore.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a device for removing proof sheets and reject sheets from a sheet-processing machine, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: